1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to archery bows, and more particularly to bowstring positioning devices.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Archery bows are physically difficult to cock, aim, and fire due to a large tension of the bow string. When hunting for game, it is a frequent occurrence that between the time a hunter sights the game and properly cocks the bow, the game has disappeared. Consequently, many hunters are forced to hold the bow in a partially cocked condition for great periods of time. This causes great stress on the hunter's muscles.
The prior art includes devices which keep the bow in a partially cocked position in order to address the problem of the archer holding the bow in a partially cocked position for extended periods. However these devices are often cumbersome to set and often react slowly and/or noisily.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,125, issued to George H. Trotter on Dec. 6, 1977, discloses a Bowstring Positioning Device which includes a shaft with one end mounted on a bow, and an enlarged padded block attached to the other end of the shaft to receive the bowstring of the bow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,326, issued to Clifford D. Rathbun on Oct. 7, 1986, discloses an Archery Bow Attachment which includes a plate attached to a midpoint on the bow and an elongated rod pivotally connected to the plate at one end. The other end of the rod is adapted to engage the midpoint of the bow string to maintain the bow string in a partially drawn pre-cocked position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,154, issued to James R. Slayton on Mar. 9, 1991, discloses a Pre-Cocking Assembly For Use With A Compound Archery Bow mounted on a riser section of a compound bow. The invention of this patent includes a swing arm that holds the bow string in a partially cocked position, and then moves in a horizontal plane and swings out of the way as soon as the bow string is moved from the partially cocked position towards the fully cocked position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,035, issued to Scott T. Brooks on Mar. 26, 1991, discloses an Archery Bow Cocking Apparatus which includes a forward leg and a nocked aft leg joined together by a spring loaded hinge and offset from the bow by offset angle bends in the forward leg. The spring loaded hinge operates to swing the nocked aft leg away from the bow string on full cocking of the bow string.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,730, issued to Ernst P. Kluver on Nov. 19, 1991, discloses an Archery Bow String Prop which includes an elongated, rigid member having an inner end adapted to frictionally engage the handle portion of the bow and an other end adapted to engage the bow string to hold the string in a drawn condition. As the bow string is drawn slightly further back, the prop falls to the ground, allowing the release of the string.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,908, issued to Marlow W. Larson on Sep. 15, 1992, discloses a Hold-Back System For Bowstring mounted on a support rod attached to the bow handle. The Hold-Back System includes a movable spring-biased arm, biasing means for moving the arm, and attachment means for adjustably mounting the hold-back apparatus on the support rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,138, issued to Roger Grover on Oct. 20, 1992, discloses an Apparatus For Drawing, Holding, And Releasing Bowstring. The invention of this patent includes a hand graspable bowstring gripping member, an elongated draw bar mounted on the hand graspable member, a guide member mountable on the bow for slidably receiving and guiding the draw bar for movement in a to-and-fro reciprocal path of travel relative to the bow between an inoperative position and a rearward bowstring drawing position, and a lock member for detachably holding the draw bar in the rearward bowstring drawing position.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.